{"id":711,"date":"2010-09-22T01:22:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-22T01:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html"},"modified":"2010-09-22T01:22:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-22T01:22:00","slug":"deepak-chopras-quantum-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Deepak Chopra’s Quantum God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really interested in him too much before, but he\u2019s been writing about Stephen Hawking\u2019s new book so I thought I\u2019d give him a read.\u00a0 He wrote two long, long articles about the book and I started with part two<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 I had to read it three times before I even understood what the hell he was talking about.\u00a0 Here\u2019s one of the more clear passages: \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
In modern quantum theory, the building blocks of Nature are not static \u201cthings,\u201d like pebbles or little billiard balls, but dynamic, dancing interactions of possibility waves. If that is correct, as it is generally agreed it is, then one can assert a transcendent realm. To call something a possibility wave is to call it a \u201cpotential.\u201d A potential does not exist in space-time, it is actually the source of space-time. As such, the infinite transcendent presence from which space-time and all waves arise is the immeasurable potential of all that was, is and will be. As such, these waves of possibility allow an infinitely complex set of actualities to emerge.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Thus challenged, I watched the ABC Nightline debate<\/span><\/a> between Michael Shermer and Sam Harris on one side and Chopra and Jean Houston on the other.\u00a0 Shermer called Chopra\u2019s ideas \u201cwoo-hoo\u201d and a ridiculous (and arrogant) misuse of scientific concepts that he barely understands.\u00a0 Exactly.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Sam Harris emphasized from his first comment that Chopra\u2019s gobbledy-gook isn\u2019t about any kind of god that is at the heart of modern religion or faith.\u00a0 Chopra said that was a god of the past, not the future.\u00a0 Then more \u201cwoo-hoo.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve been hearing a lot of \u201cwoo-hoo\u201d recently.\u00a0 I hear it from all kinds of new age-y types, both religious and just \u201cspiritual.\u201d\u00a0 I consider myself pretty spiritual, too, in that I\u2019m concerned with the welfare of the human spirit of love, creativity and altruism.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to attribute that to \u201cdancing interactions of possibility waves\u201d and then call it God.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
I suppose if this is the future of mystical thinking, it\u2019s a lot better than what the fundies are pushing.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to go very far since it\u2019s almost incomprehensible.\u00a0 On the other hand, Sam Harris has often asserted that there is some danger to this type of discourse about God.\u00a0 Chopra and other religious moderates provide cover for fundamentalism because they use the same vocabulary.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Sherwin Wine taught us to say what we mean and mean what we say.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to keep taking that advice.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really interested in him too much before, but he\u2019s been writing about Stephen Hawking\u2019s new book so I thought I\u2019d give him a read.\u00a0 He wrote two long, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,25,29],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-atheism","tag-liberal-religions-and-theologies","tag-new-age"],"yoast_head":"\nDeepak Chopra's Quantum God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deepak Chopra's Quantum God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html\",\"name\":\"Deepak Chopra's Quantum God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\"},\"description\":\"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Deepak Chopra’s Quantum God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/\",\"name\":\"The Atheist Rabbi\",\"description\":\"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\"},\"description\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deepak Chopra's Quantum God","description":"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deepak Chopra's Quantum God","og_description":"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html","og_site_name":"The Atheist Rabbi","article_published_time":"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00","author":"Jeffrey L. Falick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey L. Falick","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html","name":"Deepak Chopra's Quantum God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-22T01:22:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372"},"description":"I had a really busy day, so of course I spent my free hours tonight trying to understand the goofiness that is Deepak Chopra.\u00a0 I was never really","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/deepak-chopras-quantum-god.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Deepak Chopra’s Quantum God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/","name":"The Atheist Rabbi","description":"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372","name":"Jeffrey L. Falick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeffrey L. Falick"},"description":"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}